Abstract
Failure lives of notched components in multiaxial fatigue were statistically estimated by Monte Carlo simulations for materials with different microstructures using a proposed crack growth model. An analytical algorithm for crack growth in a microstructure, which was modeled as an aggregate of hexagons, was based on competition between two possible growth modes. In simulations, various microstructure configurations, which resulted in distinct failure lives, were randomly generated for a material under consideration. Ranges of simulated life almost coincided with experimental results observed in four kinds of materials. The coefficient of variation and the shape parameter in the fitted two-parameter Weibull distribution function for the simulated life distribution were investigated to clarify statistical properties of the failure life in multiaxial fatigue. The life dispersion was found to be larger under a loading mode with a higher proportion of shear stress component and/or in a material with coarser grains.
